Twisted Roots
by Menolly
Summary: CHANGED GENRE. Other than that, I got nothin'. Summary: Why is a human teenager in the Maverick Hunters? Why is Zero getting weird dreams? You'll find out soon enough.
1. Deja Vu

**Disclaimer 1**: Zero, Megaman X, Alia, Signas, Vile, the term "Maverick," the term "Maverick Hunter," and anything else pertaining to those 2 terms belong to Capcom(c). I have absolutely no rights to them because they are not from my imagination.

**Disclaimer 2**: Any characters that you see outside of the Maverick Hunter HQ in this chapter are from MY imagination. NOT YOURS. Thank you.

**Author's Note 1**: I am SOOOOOOO SSSSOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRYYYY! I didn't think that I would ever get back to this story, because I hit an impossible writer's block. It took me a while to figure out why I couldn't work my way around it. Then, it hit me. I DESPISE the way I started writing this story in the first place but love the storyline in my head dearly. So, I decided to start all over and take another whack at the whole entire thing. Again: I'm Really Sorry it took so long. **BOWS REPEATEDLY **

**Author's Note 2**: Just so those of you who read my first attempt at writing this story know: that version sucked. I know I can do a hell of a lot better. So erase everything in your memory that has almost anything to do with the way I originally wrote this because here's the NEW AND IMPROVED Twisted Roots. 

**Author's Note 3**: You guys are getting sick of these aren't you? This is the last one. I swear. Aaaaanyway, I'm gonna release this in a different style than last time. I'm gonna release this baby one chapter at a time, and the faster I get feed back, the shorter the time span will be until I release the next chapter. I dunno why I'm doing this. I'm gonna release it every time whether you guys like it or not. :P

**Author's Note 4**: Hee hee! Just Kiddin'.

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**Twisted Roots**

Chapter 1: Déjà Vu

It just stared at him without even blinking with its golden eyes, but it wasn't a blank stare. He felt an intense emotion in it, though he wasn't sure which one it was. It wasn't a cold stare, but it felt like it was picking every inch of his soul apart, but it wasn't doing it out of curiosity, because he felt that it already knew him quite well. It was almost as if it was picking him apart out of need or habit, but not quite either of them.

Aside from its eyes all he could see was a shadowy outline of the thing's body. It had smooth, round cheeks. The skin on them appeared to be thin and very delicate. It had about the average height of a human, which was about 5'7". Though the body was covered by a long, dark cloak, the draping cloth did not hide how unhealthily thin it looked.

An eternity passed as the petite figure just stared at him with its unidentifiable emotions until there was a hushed whispered that decided to settle itself in the air. ……..

"Zero." It said. That was when the little body began to fade. The voice grew louder and the figure became surrounded in a haze. "Zero!"

"Dammit Zero! Wake up! We have an emergency!"

Alia. That's who it was. X doesn't freak out when Zero doesn't answer the first call, and no one else ever comes to his door. Plus he could tell simply by the sound of her voice. Yep. It was definitely Alia.

"What is it?" Was the red reploid's reply.

"The city's southern suburb has been completely leveled, and readings show that the maverick that did it is still in the area. I'm pretty sure you know the rest."

"Yeah, I do. Thanks for keepin' it short Alia."

"No problem." With that, she left.

Alia had been a navigator for the maverick hunters for a long time now. When she had first started, she had a tendency to ramble when giving reports and informing people of immediate situations, and it took her a very long time and a tremendous amount of effort to stop that habit. But even though it had been a long time since the experienced navigator rambled on about anything, Zero still felt that he had to thank her every time she gave him a report. It was his own way of guaranteeing that she would never ramble on again.

Zero started off for the area, with no idea that he would later wish that he had been sitting and listening to Alia's often tiresome rambling instead of out working in the field.

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Wow. I don't think Alia even knows how right she was when she told me this place was leveled. Those were Zero's thoughts as he wondered through the remains of the development. Nothing stood even a foot off of the ground (except for Zero).

Was Alia sure that this was the work of a Maverick? It looked more like the aftermath of a supersonic bomb's detonation. But what if Alia was right? If so, that's one powerful maverick.

Come on Zero. Get your ass in gear, and start hunting for the maverick that did this. While the blond reploid mentally kicked himself repeatedly, he became oblivious to the fact that who he was looking for was standing right behind him.

"Aagh!" It wasn't quite a scream, but his voice rose considerably. It was Zero's reaction to a sharp pain in his right shoulder from a bone crushing (That is, if reploids had bones), downward blow. Turning a full 180 degrees, the injured hunter found himself looking up at his attacker.

It was a silver wolf reploid completely clad in armor that was darker than a moonless night. He stood over eight feet tall. His menacing yellow eyes showed no sign of a soul in them - a classic symptom of the maverick virus.

"You'll pay for that." Zero hissed between his teeth.

"Make me." Boomed the towering wolf.

The red wonder unsheathed his trusty light saber just as the silver maverick drew his titanium claws. They stared each other down trying to predict the other's first move.

Something wasn't right. The maverick wasn't moving. Why was that? Mavericks **always** make the first move in a one-on-one fight. Why wasn't this one? What was wrong?

KABLOOM! It came out of nowhere. The silver-maned wolf maverick just exploded for no rhyme or reason. Zero knew for a fact that he didn't kill the maverick, but since he was dead, the hunter's mission was complete. But what or possibly who killed that maverick? Was it an internal malfunction with his systems, or did someone plant a timed or remote bomb in him?

Another possibility was that before the virus had full control over him, the reploid entered a self-destruct code in him. Those take a while to activate. The first and only time Zero used his; he entered the code in as soon as Vile caught him in that electric cage. It took a good three minutes before it gave any signal that it was about to ignite, and that was considered fast. But even if the maverick's systems were the slowest ever built, the self destruct function would have gone off long before Zero could get to him. Plus, the system usually doesn't do that thorough of a job. The articles of debris were usually much bigger. No. There was no way that it could have been a self-destruct code. So what else could have caused it?

While pondering and trying to investigate the cause of the explosion, the red hunter felt a sudden and very strange sensation come over him. It felt like he was being watched. He had already checked the immediate area, and nothing looked out of the ordinary in the distance. But it was already twilight. Far away objects and/or people would be rather difficult to see at that time. This looked like a job for infrared vision. The incinerated objects were well cooled off by then, and even reploids had their own heat signatures, so finding who did it – if the maverick's death wasn't his own fault – should not have been a difficult task.

It wasn't. As soon as the infrared upgrade was installed, Zero immediately spotted something on a far off ledge that looked over the area's entire parameter. It was beyond likely that it had already spotted him. Even so, the hunter felt that he still should try to be stealthy. So he made his ascent to the top as quickly and quietly as he possibly could.

As Zero approached it from behind, he realized that whatever it was was in a crouched position. The hunter made his presence known by pulling out his light saber. The sound of millions of electrodes being activated at once is not a subtle one. When the figure heard this, it stood up in the blink of an eye.

"Freeze!" Yelled the maverick hunter. The being stopped and stood as still as a statue.

"Something's wrong. Why am I so… nervous…?" Zero thought to himself. This person was obeying his orders, but it felt like it wanted to obey him. It felt like it had the power to completely ignore his orders and get away with it. Odd. Very odd. The experienced hunter tried to tell himself that he was simply overreacting, but he still couldn't shake the little voice in his head that seemed to be screaming. It knew something wasn't right. It tried to warn the maverick hunter to be wary around this… this thing, but Zero unwisely decided to ignore it.

"Put your hands up, and turn around slowly." It did exactly as he told it, but the crimson reploid stood in disbelief. This thing was an almost exact replica of the figure from his dream, accept that now that Zero was closer, he could see more details. For instance, its eyes were very similar to a human's. The differences were that the irises were gold and illuminated and the pupils were vertical slits not unlike a cat's. The feet appeared to be a size seven at the most. The hood kept Zero from seeing this person's hair color and length let alone whether or not the figure had hair in the first place. There were water droplets on its cheeks, but it was hard to tell if they were tears or raindrops from the storm.

The look in its eyes didn't help conclude that dilemma at all. Unlike in Zero's dream, the shadowy figure's eyes had a definite emotion. They were full of sorrow, and almost seemed to cry to him for help.

"…Zer….. are...ou…..ere?" Alia. She was having a hard time getting through thanks to the storm. Looking down at his communicator, Zero flicked it with his fingers. That usually helped.

"I'm a little busy now Alia. I'll call you back." Hanging up, the maverick hunter turned his eyes back to the spot where the figure was to find that it had vanished. Strange. Zero only took his eyes off of it for a few seconds. Where could it have gone?

"Zero! Signas says to report back to Hunter Base immediately."

"Alright. I'll be there in a minute." Turning off his communicator, the baffled hunter looked back at where the shadowy figure had stood only a few moments ago. He really wanted to investigate the surrounding area again to try to find it. He had a mountain of questions for it, but Signas had given him an order. Zero had to retreat back to the base or face his commanding officer, and he knew that that wouldn't be very pleasant. So with his heart full of regret, Zero teleported back to the Maverick Hunter Headquarters.

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Well…what do you think? I know that it's not any longer than last time, but I promise to make every chapter after this as long as I can. Thanks for reading this. PLEASE leave a review. It is greatly appreciated.

Menolly


	2. Sisters

**Disclaimer: **Most every character in this chapter is MINE! But for the sake of repeating myself throughout this entire story, Megaman X (the series) belongs to Capcom(c).

**Author's Note: **There's nothing to really say. I just have a habit of writing these things. I guess I should tell you that this chapter is solely for the sake of having you get to know a few of my characters. Have fun!

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Chapter 2: Sisters

"I'm home!" Hope called as she closed the front door behind her. She took two small steps to get to the closet in her entryway. There, she hung up her rain coat.

"I take it that the weather isn't too pleasant out there." Was Faith's response. She had been sitting on the couch reading all day waiting for her sister to come home.

"It may not be pleasant in your eyes, but I find it lovely. Especially the lightning."

"You do know that lightning can kill you right?"

"Yeah. So? We all have to die sometime."

"That's so typical of you."

"Mm hm."

Hope and Faith were identical twins around the age of sixteen. They both had long, incredibly straight, blond hair that stretched all the way down their backs until it kissed the tops of their thighs. Both heads of hair were styled with bangs that poked at the peaks of their eyebrows. They had small, piercing green eyes, and very subtle tans. And petite statures, but average heights of 5'7".

"Sissy!" It came from in front of Hope while she was about to make her way up the staircase. Next thing she knew, Hope was on the ground with the wind knocked out of her and a little boy was lying on top of her with his scrawny arms latched tightly around the teenager's slender waist.

"Missed you too X." Hope half giggled as she wrapped her left arm around the youngster in a secured hug and patted him on the head with her other hand. "Tell me something. Did you stay up all night waiting for me, or did you just wake up?"

The kindergartener loosened his grasp, and gave his older sister a blank and confused stare. "Ummm... Which one will you not get mad at me for?" He asked timidly.

"And what makes you think that I'd get mad at you for either Xavior Thomas? It's not a school night."

"Auntie Faith said that you would get mad if I was still awake when you got home." The little boy murmured

"I see." Hope turned her head to face her older twin, and gave a look that said without words "_Why did you have to go and do that?" _Faith reacted by turning to look in another direction and pretending that she didn't see it.

"So… are you mad at me?" The little boys words were even smaller than before.

"Not even the tiniest bit of mad that you can imagine." The younger of the twins chimed as she squeezed the small body in her arms closer to her. By now, Hope had stood up, but since Xavior didn't feel like he was done expressing how much he missed his elder sister, the exhausted teenager had to hold him in her arms while he kept his legs around her waist and his arms around her neck.

"You know what Bud? I think you need a bath." Hope declared after she involuntarily took a small whiff of the child's head that was inches from her sensitive nostrils.

"Awwww! Already? But you just got home!" The boy complained. "Can't I take one tomorrow?"

"Nope. Sorry, but you need one now, Buddy. Both Sissy and Auntie Faith are going to be too busy tomorrow."

The six-year-old let out a heavy sigh. "Ok" He seemed to draw out the word for an eternity as he slipped down off of his favorite sister with a pouty look on his face and trudged up the stairs to the second floor bathroom-It was the only one in the house with a bathtub.

"I'll be up there to help you with the water in a minute." Hope said with a motherly tone as she watched the sulking child lumbered into thewashroom to get ready.

"Kill me for my curiosity." It was Faith. Hope turned her attention toward her twin. The formerly mentioned one continued. "Have you heard anything from Vince yet? It's been a good two weeks since he's sent me anything. I'm beginning to wonder if he's even still alive."

Vincent was their older brother. He was around the age of twenty, and currently the only human to make Maverick Hunter. As if that wasn't impressive enough, the non-steel bodied wonder was in the #0 Unit.

"No Faith." The latterly mentioned softly giggled. "He hasn't sent me anything lately either. However, I am pretty damn sure that he's still very much alive and breathing. I get the funny feeling that we're going to be hearing from him soon though." As the younger twin continued her statement, her mood and voice gradually dropped to a dark and anxious tone.

"Oh? Getting those 'funny feelings' again are we?"

Hope let out a heavy sigh that sounded like a failed attempt to clear her thoughts. "Yes, sadly enough. And I'm vainly hoping that these sensations mean nothing this time."

For the eternal minute, the sisters just stood in tense silence. Faith sat on the steps looking at Hope helplessly wishing she could aid her own flesh and blood in even the smallest manner. The younger of the duo leaned against a wall while observing the activity of their suburban neighborhood through a picture window.

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Xavior tiptoed down the hallway with a fluffy, warm towel wrapped him. It was a substitute for the clothing he had stripped himself of not one minute ago. Sissy was supposed with him in the bathroom by now to help him adjust the water's temperature to his liking, but she wasn't. What could she possibly be doing? He soon found out.

As he stood on his perch at the top of the staircase, he could see his beloved older sister along with her facial features. He knew the expression she wore all to well. It meant something. It meant that she was experiencing a premonition, and as usual, it was something horrible.

In that instant, he felt the same emotion as his Auntie Faith. He wanted to do something to help his sissy calm down. But unlike his auntie, he knew how to do it. He always noticed that when Hope was with him, she was in a slightly better mood if she had a rough day. Xavior didn't understand why that was, but it was the truth. So, he gathered up his courage and tried his best to speak up.

"Umm... Sissy?" He stammered.

The statement shattered the silence along with the blond girl's trance. She turned to face her little brother.

"What is it X?" The teenager said with a gentle smile on her face.

Perfect. He had caught her attention. Now to a more important matter.

"When are you gonna come and help with the water?"

"Oh! I'm sorry X. I almost forgot." She was laughing at herself now as she made her way to the steps. "I'm coming right now."

When the mother-like figure was at the base of the staircase, Faith merely slid to one side of it to let her counterpart pass.

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I know. I know. It's shorter than the first one. -.-' I'll try to do better next time. But, sadly enough, I can't make any promises.

Anyway, to those of you who are reading this, whether you like this fic or not:

THANK YOU!

I love you all. Especially those of you who leave reviews. Seriously, I about have a heart attack every time I notice that there's a new review in my account. This is the sole reason why my sister thinks I'm crazy. .

Thanks again.

Menolly

P.S. Chapter 3 WILL take longer for me to upload. Just so people know.


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